After her 70-pound basset hound was attacked and severely injured by coyotes, Therese Carolan wanted to alert other pet owners that it's not just small animals who are targets.

The Bloomfield Township resident's dog Lily, 9, was severely injured, but after two weeks in the veterinary hospital came home and seemed to be on the mend. Instead, Lily died July 11, about a month after she was attacked.

"She came home and seemed to be doing decently — she was walking and eating. She had an antibiotic resistant infection that the coyote gave her — it was nasty stuff," said Carolan, who lives in the Long Lake and Telegraph area. "She seemed to be perky and was checking out her favorite places, sniffing around."

Once she had been released from the hospital, Lily was going every two days to have her wounds checked and treated, Carolan said.

"It wasn't like she wasn't being treated. She had been going in to have her wounds cleaned and rewrapped," Carolan said. "She was sweet and made a lot of friends at the hospital."

The dog was treated at Oakland Veterinary on Telegraph in Bloomfield Township. Representatives of the veterinary clinic didn't respond to calls for comment on the incident.

Based on the number and severity of the wounds Lily suffered, Carolan said it was apparent that more than one coyote had attacked her dog.

"She must have fought hard. She had wounds on her stomach, chest and one leg was deeply injured," Carolan said. "It was just a (short amount) time. We heard it and it wasn't very long after we let her out. It had to be more than one coyote."

Most of the recent reports of pets being killed or injured by coyotes involved smaller-size pets. That made the attack on Lily, a larger dog, more shocking and prompted Carolan to alert other area pet owners.

Contact LeAnne Rogers at lrogers@hometownlife.com or 734-883-9039. Follow her on Twitter: @LRogersObserver.